so I got bored one day and had a winch and a jeep so I started off like this

then braced that front cross member a bunch then from there back along the top of the unibody rails then put this plate on top of that


then put everything else back on and painted it up and it looks like this

I kinda like the way it looks with the stock bumper it didn't cost me anything so I figured id try it out it still need to put shackle tabs somewhere I haven't decided what im going to do there

I also did remove the ac radiator thing whatever its called because im going to be using the ac compressor for on board air anyways

 

what do you mean by 'braced the front crossmember'? lol

more pics please...

 

haha I knew someone was going to ask that. I didn't take very many pictures while I was doing it next time I have the bumper off i'll take more. I pretty much took some 5x3 angle iron or around there and welded it to the crossmember with the shorter side up then welded the winch munting plate to that and the top of the crossmember. I welded all of the seems on the front end completely too

 

I'm wondering if that will actually withstand all of the weight/pressure when actually stuck.

Looks good though man.

 

Because winching from the crossmember without distributing the force of the pull is a good idea.

 

which is why after I braced the crossmember I distributed it by plating the unibody a foot and a half back from the crossmember with plenty of plug and stitch welds and welded those tie ins to the bracing

 

im not really worried at all if you saw it before the radiator and bumper were back on youd understand

 

Is that flat plate just cantilevered out there with the winch sitting on it, or are there some sort of gussets that run back to the reinforced crossmember? What will happen when/if you need to pull at an up or down angle, such as when your rig is stuck either nose high or nose low? Or when the recovery point is a few feet above or below your winch?

 

it is gusseted with the angle iron that was the only thing I was worried about so I beefed it up until I was no longer worried at all

 

where ya from in maine? I'm down in the old orchard beach area

 

erase

 

Perfect man!